Back-of-Cabinet Principle

True craftsmanship is a drive for perfection. Steve Jobs father taught him that craftsmanship matters above all else, when they were building cabinets even the parts that faced the wall needed to be beautiful. Not because people would see it, but because you will know it’s a work of art. Jobs applied this lesson to everything. He even rejected early Apple circuit boards simply because the hidden lines inside the machine were not straight enough.

Today, we face this exact same problem. As vibe coders, we often think that users only interact with the final product on their screen, so they never see the actual code. Because of this, the code generated by AI is often left messy and disorganized behind the scenes. We tend to only care if the program works, ignoring the internal beauty of the system. We have to admit that this is not craftsmanship. Leaving bad code hidden inside is exactly like using cheap wood for the back of a cabinet. Craftsmanship is about satisfying the standards you have for yourself.